Data’s 1971 Moment

In 1971, knowing how to assemble a magazine spread with an X-Acto knife was a career-defining skill. Art directors spent years mastering the geometry, the wax, the precise cuts. Then desktop publishing arrived.

By 1985, Aldus PageMaker shipped on a floppy disk for the Mac , and the decades-old craft became an artifact.

Five years ago, assembling a production-ready UI in a week was considered efficient. Today, your PM can generate something functional in an afternoon with AI-driven design tools. Same polish? Not always. But good enough to test with users and out-iterate competitors.

Every technical revolution sorts people into two camps: those who recognize the shift and move forward, and those who defend the old gates. Right now, data infrastructure is having its 1971 moment.…